UCLA Center for East
Asian Studies
Today in Asian History
January 23
1948 The Soviet Union and North Korean authorities denied the United Nations entry into North Korea to administer elections. The U.N. subsequently held elections only in the south.
1954 The United Nations Command in Korea released those prisoners of war who refused repatriation to either North Korea or the People's Republic of China. 14,000 of the 20,000 such Chinese POWs were sent to Taiwan.
1968 North Korean forces captured the American spy ship the USS Pueblo. The crew of the ship was held for eleven months. One U.S. sailor was killed in the seizure. To extract the crew the U.S. government issued an apology it later repudiated.
1973 U.S. President Richard M. Nixon said that a peace agreement to end the war in Vietnam was near and that Americans held as prisoners of war would be home in 60 days.
1981 International condemnation caused the South Korean military junta under Chun Doo-hwan to commute opposition leader Kim Dae-jung’s death sentence to life imprisonment. Kim had been imprisoned since 1980 and would spend another year in jail before being permitted to go to the United States for medical treatment. [See 1996 entry for January 22.]
The AI "Today in Asian History" page was compiled by Clayton Dube. He welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send them to <cdube@isop.ucla.edu>.
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